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BongHwan Kim Addresses PRNC
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November 2008

BongHwan KimBongHwan (BH) Kim, General Manger for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) was the guest speaker at our November Board meeting. He spoke about the role of neighborhood councils, support provided by DONE, and some proposed changes to the Neighborhood Council system.

"A council's role is advisory to the City Council. An NC's power is not so much in its formal role, but rather in its role as caretakers and stewards of the local quality of life while holding government more accountable," Kim said in describing his vision for councils. The opportunity is to take an issue, get the community to weigh in on it and bring the recommendation to the Councilman's office. NCs become more effective with sufficient notice about pending City Council decisions and a sophisticated understanding about how decisions are made at City Hall.

Asked about the ongoing challenge of effect NC outreach, he said that "the most effective outreach tool is relevance," tackling issues that the community cares about. He noted that the PRNC has done a great job with outreach.

He commented that he would like to see the role of DONE changing from payment processor and enforcer to capacity builder to enable NCs to expand their influence and reach. His challenge is to use 15 field staff to effectively serve 90 councils and 1,700 NC board members. Some ideas include changing the financial system to be one with more NC control and DONE verifying NC financial audits. Online ethics and best practices training would provide a common level of understanding among board members and online reporting of training completed by individual NC board members provides transparency and accountability.

He was careful to point out that his resources could shrink in light of the budget crisis and that there would probably be another look at reducing the $50,000 currently allocated per NC.

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Meetings

  • Wednesday, Apr 10, 2024, 6:00 PM
    Castlebay Lane Charter Elementary
  • Wednesday, May 8, 2024, 6:00 PM
    Castlebay Lane Charter Elementary
  • Wednesday, Jun 12, 2024, 6:00 PM
    Castlebay Lane Charter Elementary
  • Wednesday, Jul 10, 2024, 6:00 PM
    Castlebay Lane Charter Elementary
  • Wednesday, Aug 14, 2024, 6:00 PM
    Castlebay Lane Charter Elementary

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The Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council is an organization that is officially certified by the City of Los Angeles to increase our influence with City lawmakers and departments to improve our community.

The PRNC came about as a result of Los Angeles City Charter Reform and interested stakeholders in our community. The Board is elected by stakeholders and holds monthly meetings, usually on the first Wednesday of the month. The agenda is emailed to those who subscribe (see the green box in the upper corner), on our website here and posted at 11280 Corbin Avenue, Northridge, CA 91326 on a bulletin board facing Corbin street.

The Board is comprised of volunteers who want to help you make Porter Ranch a better place to live, work and grow. We can't do it for you, but we can do it with you.

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